Postgraduate Medicine

Summary: Presents Heimlich’s theory that
flooding of the lungs occurs routinely in drowning victims and
mouth-to-mouth ventilation is ineffective until the water is
removed. The Heimlich maneuver expels aspirated water, vomitus,
debris and other foreign matter.

Journal of the American Medical
Association

Full Citation: Vomiting as a complication of the
Heimlich maneuver. Orlowski, JP 1987

Summary: In this report, Orlowski notes that
vomiting after the Heimlich maneuver can cause serious
complications and therefore it should be reserved for those cases
with documented airway obstruction.